Tanzania’s Samia Hassan expected to win re-election as polls open

Tanzanian President Samia Hassan is widely expected to secure a second term, facing little challenge from a weakened opposition, as polls opened on Wednesday.

Chadema, the country’s largest opposition party, has boycotted the election after its leader Tundu Lissu was imprisoned ahead of the polls.

Lissu is facing treason charges after calling for electoral reforms.

Luhaga Mpina, the presidential candidate for the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), the second-largest opposing party, was disqualified by the electoral umpire.

There are 16 other candidates representing smaller parties on the ballot who pose no significant challenge to the incumbent.

Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the ruling party, has governed Tanzania since the country’s independence in 1961.

This is Hassan’s first presidential election.

The 65-year-old became the East African nation’s leader in 2021 following the death of then-sitting President John Magufuli. Hassan was vice-president at the time.

She was initially lauded for a warmer, friendlier leadership style which contrasted with Magufuli’s authoritarian clampdown on dissent and controversial posture towards the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hassan would later initiate reforms that reopened Tanzania to foreign investors, restored donor relations, and mollified the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

However, critics have accused Hassan’s government of unexplained abductions of opposing figures.

The election commission says it will announce the results within three days.